


The Show Must Go On

by Small_Hobbit



Category: Lewis (TV)
Genre: Community: lewis_challenge, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 09:39:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3129848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/pseuds/Small_Hobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hathaway and Maddox are called to a murder in a village hall on dress rehearsal night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Show Must Go On

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Fabrisse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fabrisse/gifts).



> Created for Secret Santa on the Lewis_Challenge LJ comm

“Right, sergeant, tell me what we’ve got,” Inspector James Hathaway said as he entered the village hall.

“Danny Bruton, the handsome prince, lying face down in the small hall, with a knife in his back. Dr Hobson is in there, but she seems confident that the knife wound is the cause of death,” Sergeant Maddox replied.

Hathaway nodded and Maddox continued, “The rest of the cast and back stage crew for Snow White are in the large hall.”

“Who found the body?”

“Sylvia Prosser. She’d gone to collect some props from the cupboard in the back of the small hall. The chairs had been stacked a little way in front of the cupboard and the body was lying behind them. She screamed and several of the others came rushing in.”

“What time was this?”

“The call was logged at 19.18.”

Whilst they were talking, Maddox led Hathaway to the small hall. As they entered Hathaway spotted a figure sitting on a chair just inside the doorway.

“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” Hathaway said.

“I’m just the chauffeur,” Lewis replied. “We’d gone for a quiet meal out when the call came through; since we weren’t far away I drove Laura straight here. I can leave and come back for her when she’s done if you’d like.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” Hathaway paused. “I assume there’s a fair number of people waiting in the other hall?” he asked Maddox.

“Yes, sir. The two constables are taking names and addresses and arrival times of everyone. I’ve told them not to let anyone leave until you say they can.”

Hathaway looked round the room, giving himself time to think. “Right. From the dates on the poster on that wall, this must have been the dress rehearsal. Which means no-one would have expected to go home for at least a couple of hours. Which should give us sufficient time to speak to everyone at least briefly, if you’re able to help, Robbie.”

“Of course,” Lewis replied.

Lewis had been about to say more when they heard the sound of raised voices from the other hall. Lewis and Maddox followed Hathaway as he went to see what had happened. 

About half the occupants of the room were gathered round an older man, who was waving his arms about in a dramatic fashion. Hathaway tried to ascertain what was happening and they turned to face him, all continuing to speak at once. Finally, Hathaway raised his hand to get them to be quiet. He addressed a middle-aged man who was standing slightly apart from the group, but intently following what was going on.

“Can you tell me what this is about?” Hathaway asked.

“Jack Ferris,” he said, indicating the older man standing in the middle of the group, “the pantomime’s author has just suggested that since opening night is tomorrow we need to be rehearsing, with Andy taking the part of the handsome prince. There’s been a considerable amount of comment on Jack’s callous attitude in the circumstances, with Jack declaring that ‘the show must go on’.”

“Thank you, Mr ...”

“Hudson, Tom Hudson. I’m the stage manager.”

“Right. Firstly,” Hathaway spoke up to ensure that everyone could hear him. “I can tell you categorically that the show will not be going on. The hall is a crime scene and once I, or one of my colleagues, have spoken to each of you, no-one will be allowed back in the hall until our investigations are finished.”

Hathaway waited while this news was assimilated, before he added, “I would like you all to sit at the far end of the hall and we will speak to you as quickly as we can.” 

He indicated to Lewis and Maddox to join him at the other end of the hall and beckoned Hudson over as well. “It would be helpful to have some idea who everyone is,” he said.

Hudson took a couple of cast lists out of his briefcase. “These should help,” he said, handing them over.

“Thank you,”

Hathaway looked down the list of names. “I thought it was traditional to have seven dwarves,” he said.

“It is.” Hudson grinned, “But we don’t have enough players for that. So in this production Sleepy is always asleep elsewhere and, ‘we don’t want anyone to be Grumpy in this pantomime,’ means that Jack has suitably written that dwarf out too.”

A loud sneeze echoed in the hall.

“Sneezy, I presume,” Lewis said.

“Actually, no, that’s Happy. It’s just that he’s got a cold.”

Hathaway sighed. He had the feeling it was going to be a long evening. “One last question,” he added, “who unlocked the hall for you?”

“Freddy Dollond, the caretaker. He’ll be in the pub at the moment, if you want to talk to him.”

“Thank you, Mr Hudson. That should be all for the moment. We will need to ask you some more questions later.” 

Hudson went to join the rest of the cast and crew, who instantly gathered round him wanting to know what he’d been told.

Once he had gone, Hathaway said, “Robbie, could you track down the caretaker and speak to him? Lizzie, can you interview the backstage crew, whilst I start on the cast?”

“Yes, sir. Is there any particular order you’d like me to take them in?”

“No, it’s up to you; although if you start with the woman who found the body, then she can go.”

***

With all the preliminary interviews finished they met up in the hall kitchen. Lewis had searched through the cupboards to find the coffee jar and some milk and was making them a drink (he had ignored the message on the cupboard that said in heavy red letters ‘For W.I. use only’).

Once they had sat down, Hathaway asked Lewis what he’d found out from the caretaker.

“He told me he’d locked the hall at 5.30 and then unlocked it again at 6.45,” Lewis said.

“Which helps to narrow the time down at least,” Hathaway looked pleased. His own interviews had provided very little of any use.

“Unfortunately not. The caretaker didn’t check the hall was empty when he locked up, because, I quote, ‘It was the over 60s. They’d have all gone home for their tea.’ So anyone could have hidden in here, waited ‘til the hall was locked, and then unlocked it from the inside. In addition many of the leaders of the groups that use the hall have their own keys, and so could have got in. And finally, according to one of Dollond’s drinking buddies, ‘If you hit the back door in the right place above the lock, it opens of its own accord.’”

Hathaway gave a heartfelt sigh and then glared at Maddox who was trying to stifle a laugh.

“So no help there,” Hathaway said. “Did any of the people you interviewed see Danny Bruton arrive or speak to him this evening?”

“No, or at least not reliably,” Maddox replied. “Some people thought they saw him, some didn’t.”

“That was what I found,” Hathaway said. “One of the dwarves, Dopey, I think it was, living up to his name, said Bruton must have arrived, because his car was in the car park. I refrained from pointing out that his dead body also proved that he arrived. Did you hear of any possible motive? Some of the cast were saying that Ellie Mansfield – Snow White – was his girlfriend, although she herself denied it, and a couple of the others said he’d been seen in the pub with a different girl recently; so maybe jealousy.”

“The same for me. Popular opinion is that Ellie and Bruton were a couple. They sometimes came to rehearsals together, although that doesn’t prove anything.”

“That’s right,” Hathaway interrupted. “They both lived in the new development, ‘Oak Leaves’, just outside the village.”

“The other girl,” Maddox continued, “was Daisy Armstrong. She’s not involved in the pantomime, although someone did mention seeing her father’s Land Rover in the car park.”

“Right,” Hathaway said. “In the absence of any definite leads, I suggest we follow up Ellie Mansfield, and Daisy Armstrong and her father, first thing tomorrow and see if there’s any other reason why someone should want Danny Bruton dead.”

***

The following morning Hathaway went to speak to the Armstrongs, while Maddox went to see Ellie Mansfield. They had arranged to join Lewis in Bruton’s flat afterwards.

Mrs Armstrong answered the front door when Hathaway knocked. He explained why he had come.

“Come through,” she said, “My husband’s in the kitchen having a cup of coffee, before going back out to see to the cattle. The girls are there too. Daisy’s taking the morning off work, she’s too upset to go in, and Lily’s only got one lesson this morning - she’s in the sixth form - so I suggested she stay home too. It’s been a great shock to all of us.”

“Of course; I understand.”

Hathaway took a seat at the kitchen table, and Mrs Armstrong gave him a cup of coffee. 

He turned to Daisy and said, “I know this is very difficult, but I need to ask you about your relationship with Danny Bruton.”

“We were friends. We both play for the Oxford Bach Music Group and sometimes we’d go for a drink together.”

“How did you meet?”

“At the music group. Danny came along one night, saying he’d recently moved into the area. He mentioned to someone where his new flat was and they told him I lived in the same village. It was nice to have a friend living locally, especially as a lot of my school friends had gone away to uni.” She started to cry and her sister pushed the box of tissues towards her.

Hathaway waited until Daisy looked up at him again.

“But you wouldn’t have called him a boyfriend?” he asked.

“No. I don’t think he had a girlfriend. He never mentioned anyone.”

“What about Ellie Mansfield?”

“I don’t really know her – I think her boyfriend’s up north somewhere.”

Hathaway saw Armstrong standing up, so he said, “Thank you, Daisy. You’ve been very helpful.”

He followed Armstrong towards the door. “One moment, Mr Armstrong.”

The farmer turned towards him. 

“Your Land Rover was seen parked at the village hall yesterday evening. Can you tell me what you were doing there?”  
Armstrong sighed. “Harry Young – I think he’s one of the dwarves – pays me cash for some of my spuds. I’d arranged to meet him in the car park to give him a few bags.”

“Mr Young can confirm this?” Hathaway looked at Armstrong’s expression. “On the assumption that this is part of a murder investigation, rather than by the Inland Revenue.”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you. And while you were there you didn’t notice anything?”

Armstrong thought. “I got there just after half past six. There were a few cars already parked – some of them nip down the pub for a swift half beforehand. Bruton’s car was there.”

“You didn’t see Bruton?”

“No.”

“Thank you, Mr Armstrong. I won’t keep you from your cattle any longer.”

***

Maddox rang the door bell of Ellie Mansfield’s flat.

When Ellie answered it she was still wearing pyjamas. “Come in,” she said. “I’m sorry, I’ll go and get dressed.”

“I’m not bothered if you’re not,” Maddox replied. Ellie glanced down at the penguins on the trousers. Maddox continued, “I’ve got a tiger onesie I’m very fond of.”

“In which case, come into the kitchen and I’ll put the kettle on. Tea or coffee?”

Maddox waited until they both had a mug of tea before starting to question Ellie. In the meantime she looked at the postcards and photos on the pin board.

They sat down at the kitchen table and Maddox began, “Is that your boyfriend in the photos?”

“Yes. He’s doing a Masters in Manchester.”

“Do you get to see him often?”

“I go up every fortnight and he comes down about once a month. He’s coming tonight. He wasn’t due to come, because I had the pantomime this weekend, but I phoned him last night and he said he’d come this afternoon.” Ellie gave a small smile. “He offered to come at once, which would have been difficult since he doesn’t have a car, but I said I’d be okay until today.”

Maddox nodded. “I know this is difficult, but I have to ask, were you having a relationship with Danny Bruton?”

Ellie shook her head. “I’d heard the gossip, but no. We were friends. We were both newcomers to the village and lived on the same development. We egged each other on to take part in the pantomime. And we’d quite often share lifts, but there was nothing more.”

“You hadn’t planned on sharing a lift last night?”

Ellie thought. “No. Danny had sent me a text saying he needed to get there a bit earlier, did I still want a lift? I replied telling him to go ahead, because I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t get caught up in traffic on the way home.”

“Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to kill Danny?”

“No.” Ellie shook her head.

“And is there anything else that you could tell us about Danny or the pantomime?”

“I don’t think so. To be honest I’m quite glad we’re having a break. That sounds awful – I didn’t mean it that way.”

“Something was bothering you about it?”

“Jack Ferris kept making suggestions about giving me a bigger part in his next production, and hinting at what I’d need to do if I wanted one. And telling me how I should ignore Danny.” Ellie shuddered. “Jack’s ancient, well, fairly ancient, and married.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I ignored him. Then at the weekend he told me he might be cutting some of my lines, since ‘I clearly wasn’t up to his expectations.’ I told him I wasn’t bothered.”

Maddox stood up. “Thank you. Take my card. If he gives you any more trouble, give me a ring.”

***

They met up in Bruton’s flat as arranged. Lewis had so far been unsuccessful in finding any reason why Bruton should have been murdered. Hathaway and Maddox shared the information they had obtained, confirming that Bruton had arrived at the village hall early. 

“I’ll get Gurdip to go through all the text messages on Bruton’s mobile to see if there’s any clue as to why he had arranged to be early,” Hathaway said. “But it was equally possible he spoke to his murderer. Any sign of a girlfriend, or boyfriend, since we’ve ruled out both Daisy Armstrong and Ellie Mansfield?”

“I’m afraid not,” Lewis replied. “He didn’t have many photos up. One’s of a group of what look like friends, and the others are of a wedding and almost certainly a family group from the likenesses.”

“Did Ellie Mansfield say anything else?” Hathaway asked.

“Not really,” Maddox replied. “She’s been having trouble with Jack Ferris being over friendly and threatening to reduce her lines if she didn’t fit in with his plans.”

“That’s it!” Lewis exclaimed. “I knew something was bothering me.”

“What?” “Sorry, sir?” Hathaway and Maddox were both surprised at Lewis’ words.  
“Yesterday, when there was the argument about continuing the rehearsals. I heard Ferris saying that it was okay because he’d already cut the lines for the handsome prince, so the replacement wouldn’t have much to learn.” 

“So what you’re saying,” Hathaway began tentatively, “Is that Ferris asked Bruton to meet him to discuss the reduction in lines?”

“No, this was the dress rehearsal; you wouldn’t make a major amendment at that stage, surely?” Lewis replied. “I think Ferris knew Bruton wasn’t going to make the performance.”

Hathaway made a quick phone call and then said, “Right, I’ve spoken to Tom Hudson. He’s the owner of the feed suppliers on the main road back to Oxford. We’ll call in on him on our way to the station.”

***

When the three of them arrived at the depot they found Hudson looking harassed. “I’m sorry I can’t give you much time,” he said. “One of our lorries has broken down and I need to re-jig the deliveries.”

“This shouldn’t take long,” Hathaway replied. “I understand you have copies of the script we can see.”

“Yes, of course, come into my office.”

Hudson led the way and then took the scripts out of his briefcase. “I haven’t looked at them since yesterday evening. Jack gave me his revised copy, but I haven’t really felt like checking the amendments.”

“Hardly surprising,” Lewis said. “If you wouldn’t mind doing so now. We’re particularly interested in the section involving the prince.”

Hudson had a glance through. “That’s ridiculous. There are massive changes. We couldn’t possibly make those in the time.” Then he stopped speaking. “Oh!”

“May we take those scripts, please,” Hathaway interrupted, before Hudson could say anything further. “And if you have any thoughts, we’d be grateful if you could keep them to yourself for the moment.”

Hudson passed the scripts over and then sighed as he heard raised voices from the warehouse.

“Thank you,” Hathaway said. “We won’t detain you any longer.”

As they were walking towards their cars, Maddox’s phone rang. She answered it and then looked at Hathaway and Lewis. “Julie’s on the phone. She says Jack Ferris is at the station demanding to know when he can start putting up posters with the new dates for the pantomime.”

“Excellent,” Hathaway answered. “Ask Julie to tell him that we’ll be back in twenty minutes and we’d be delighted to discuss matters with him.”

***  
Once back at the station, Hathaway and Maddox showed Ferris into one of the interview rooms, whilst Lewis told Innocent what they had discovered.

Before they could begin the interview Ferris produced a poster which said, ‘Don’t miss the much talked about production of Snow White. Rescheduled with additional performances.’ “I just need to insert the date and we can start printing them,” he added.

Hathaway looked taken aback, but quickly recovered his composure. “There are still several matters that need to be dealt with before a date can be considered,” he said. “Firstly, we’d like to ask you some further questions about last night.”

“If you must.”

“What time did you arrive at the hall last night?” Hathaway began.

“About seven.”

“And you didn’t see Bruton at all?”

“I don’t think so.”

“That seems strange. You had extensively rewritten his part and yet you hadn’t tried to speak to him to tell him? Presumably you’d already told him about this.”

“What? No, that hadn’t been necessary.”

“Why not, Mr Ferris?” Maddox asked. “This was the dress rehearsal. Danny Bruton would have needed to know the revisions.”

“The revisions were only for if he wasn’t present,” Ferris explained.

“But everyone else expected him to be present,” Maddox said.

“Things happen.” Ferris shrugged his shoulders.

“Things like ending up with a knife in your back?” Hathaway joined in again.

“I suppose so.”

“Mr Ferris. We have witnesses who saw Bruton’s car parked in the car park before half past six. The general impression is that you arrived at some point before seven o’clock. We know from the call history on his mobile that you phoned Bruton that lunchtime. Did you arrange to meet him early that evening?” Hathaway said.

Ferris looked from Hathaway to Maddox and back again. “I’d like to speak to a lawyer.”

***

Later, in Innocent’s office, Hathaway summarised the second interview with Ferris. “He’s claiming it was an accident. He says he had told Bruton to leave Ellie Mansfield alone and they’d argued. He didn’t realise that he’d picked up one of the props, which happened to be a dagger, swung round in a temper and stabbed Bruton.”

“You don’t believe him,” Innocent said.

“Bruton was stabbed in the back, so physically this would have been unlikely. Sylvia Prosser, who’s been doing the props for years, didn’t recognise the dagger and said they weren’t using one in this production. And Tom Hudson said the same thing. And then there’s the question of the play rewrite, in case Bruton was unavailable.”

“It was possible that Ferris expected Bruton to walk out, following their discussion,” Lewis added, “So he had rewritten the scenes in advance.”

“But extremely unlikely,” Innocent replied. “This sounds like it was pre-meditated. Good work, all of you.”

Lewis and Hathaway walked down the corridor together. “Lizzie, Tony and I are going for a pre-Christmas meal at the Italian this evening,” Hathaway said. “Would you and Laura like to join us?”

“That would be nice. Laura’s trying to persuade me to go and see The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, but I think I’ve had enough of dwarves for the moment.”


End file.
